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7/9 – ______ News is ______ News

Spoke with Dr. J today. Not really a ton of information here. Yes my M Spike is .28 and my total urine protein is high (not out of control high but high)

My Kappa and Lambda numbers were normal – this is good – although the ratio was high – not so good but as mentioned in a previous post according to Dr. J this doesn’t matter. What matters to him is the IGg number (which is normal) and the Kappa Chain (which is also normal) and that means we are set to harvest the stem cells.

I will begin that process on 7/19 with YET ANOTHER FREAKING CONSULTATION at Hackensack Medical Center. One week later (Friday 7/26) I will begin self injections (oy!) of Neupogen and then on Monday 7/29 we will begin the harvest at last. It should take anywhere from one to three days.

What does this all mean? I have NO IDEA. I am in the dark right now. All I know is Myeloma is unpredictable and often doesn’t behave the way we want it to behave. Carfilzomib, Revlimid and Dexamethasone put me in remission. We stopped the Revlimid because you can’t have a stem cell harvest with Revlimid in your system 30 days prior and with all of the insurance company bullshit (thanks Anthem Blue Cross of California – I will blog/tweet about YOU another time) I am out of remission but OK to harvest. After the harvest we will go back on the CRD regimen until we transplant.

As of last week, I was planning on having the transplant in January. Right now – I am thinking maybe it is best to do this sooner. Lots to discuss with the doctors, my family and everyone else but the PLAN right now is to HARVEST, HOLD and REGROUP. Make the best decision – the one that keeps me alive.

Let’s take some time to size up this opponent of ours – Cancer. Cancer tried to beat me the first time conventionally – just by being cancer – and we put it into remission. Then it tried to beat me unconventionally – by fighting back through different transplant options and doctors using scary language like “risky” or “aggressive” – quick decision making took care of that attack. Now Cancer is trying to beat me through confusion. Messing around with different numbers. Elevating some and keeping others normal. Divide and conquer so to speak. My game plan to fight back – get my team in one place and facing one direction. Dr. J, Dr. S, my family, my insurance company and all of the nurses and nurse practitioners that I work with – we are all standing in a line facing front and SINGING FROM THE SAME DAMN SONG SHEET! My team is unified and ready to fight. Cancer will not win by confusing my body or my mind. I am tougher than that and my team is smarter than that.

So… onward we march. I have as little news today as I did yesterday. Dr. J says he doesn’t know if the M Spike is a blip or something more but is fine with the numbers because of the Kappa Chain and the IGg count being normal. I don’t know if that means that

No news is good news?

No news is bad news?

or…no news is no news?

The unpredictability of Myeloma continues. That is the only news I know. That and the fact that I will continue fighting to defeat it.